Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 15:32
He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.
32. understanding ] Lit. heart. Comp. void of wisdom (Lit. heart), Pro 15:21, above, and Pro 2:2, note.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 32. Despiseth his own soul] That is constructively; for if the instruction lead to the preservation of life and soul, he that neglects or despises it throws all as much in the way of danger as if he actually hated himself.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Despiseth his own soul; which hereby he exposeth to the danger of utter destruction, whereby he shows his folly.
Getteth understanding; whereby he saveth his soul. Heb. possesseth an heart, which the Hebrews make the seat of wisdom.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
32. refusethor, “neglects,””passes by” (Pro 1:25;Pro 4:15).
despiseth . . . soulsoacts as if esteeming its interests of no value.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
He that refuseth instruction,…. The instruction of parents, masters, ministers, and of God himself; or “correction” y, instruction either by the word or by the rod; he that withdraws himself from it, will not be in the way of it, that shuns, neglects, and despises it, or carelessly and contemptuously attends it:
despiseth his own soul; shows that he makes no account of it, has no regard for it or care about it, when it is so precious a jewel, and the loss of it irreparable; not that a man can strictly and properly despise his soul, but comparatively, having a greater regard for his body, and especially for his carnal lusts and pleasures, than for that; or as a man diseased and refuses proper medicines may be said to despise his health;
but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding; or “a heart” z; he gets understanding by listening to reproof, and behaving according to it; he better understands himself and his case, what he should shun and avoid, what he should receive, embrace, and do; instead of losing his soul, as the man that refuses correction does, he finds the life of it, and possesses it, and with it a large share of experience and spiritual wisdom.
y “correctionem”, Pagninus, Vatablus; “qui abstrahit se a castigatione”, Piscator. z “cor”, Pagninus, Piscator, Schultens, Michaelis.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Two proverbs with the catchword :
32 He that refuseth correction lightly values his soul;
But he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.
Regarding , vid., Pro 13:18, cf. Pro 1:25, and , Pro 8:36. contains more than the later expression , self; it is equivalent to (Job 9:21), for the is the bond of union between the intellectual and the corporeal life. The despising of the soul is then the neglecting, endangering, exposing of the life; in a word, it is suicide (10b). Pro 19:8 is a variation derived from this distich: “He who gains understanding loves his soul,” according to which the lxx translate here . the Midrash explains by ; but the correct view is, that is not thought of as a formal power, but as operative and carried into effect in conformity with its destination.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
32 He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.
See here, 1. The folly of those that will not be taught, that refuse instruction, that will not heed it, but turn their backs upon it, or will not hear it, but turn their hearts against it. They refuse correction (margin); they will not take it, no, not from God himself, but kick against the pricks. Those that do so despise their own souls; they show that they have a low and mean opinion of them, and are in little care and concern about them, considered as rational and immortal, instruction being designed to cultivate reason and prepare for the immortal state. The fundamental error of sinners is undervaluing their own souls; therefore they neglect to provide for them, abuse them, expose them, prefer the body before the soul, and wrong the soul to please the body. 2. The wisdom of those that are willing, not only to be taught, but to be reproved: He that hears reproof, and amends the faults he is reproved for, gets understanding, by which his soul is secured from bad ways and directed in good ways, and thereby he both evidences the value he has for his own soul and puts true honour upon it.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
32. Despiseth his own soul Or, his life, or himself; meaning, acts as though he did, and does so in effect. Pro 8:36.
Getteth understanding Hebrew, possesseth a heart; that is, intellect. As an illustration of the first clause, we give the following passage from Butler’s Analogy, chap. ii: “We may, by rashness, ungoverned passion, wilfulness, or even by negligence, make ourselves as miserable as we please. And many do make themselves extremely miserable; that is, they do what they know beforehand will render them so: they follow those ways, the fruit of which they know by instruction, example, and experience, will bring disgrace, poverty, sickness, and untimely death.” Comp. Pro 16:16; Pro 19:8.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
v. 32. He that refuseth instruction,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
DISCOURSE: 790
INSTRUCTION TO BE OBEYED
Pro 15:32. He that refuseth instruction, despiseth his own soul.
THE Scriptures speak plainly, and represent things as they really are. Perhaps there is no man that would acknowledge he despised God: yet does God lay that sin to the charge of all who question his retributive justice: Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God, while he doth say in his heart, Thou wilt not require it [Note: Psa 10:13.]? So none would confess that they despise their own souls: yet is that the real character of all who refuse the instruction which God sends to them by his written word, and by the ministration of his faithful servants. And this will appear, if we consider,
I.
The need that every man has of divine instruction
Much may be known to man from sensation and reflection: he may gather much from observation and experience, and the mere force of reasoning, without any revelation from heaven: but without divine instruction,
1.
He can never know the extent of his wants
[He cannot know his fall in Adam, or the depravity of his fallen nature, or his utter incapacity to restore himself to Gods favour. If told that his carnal mind is enmity against God, and that without Christ he can do nothing, and that God alone can give him either to will or to do any thing agreeable to the divine command, he would think it all a libel upon human nature. It is revelation alone that can give him any just views on these subjects ]
2.
He can still less know how those wants are to be supplied
[Who could ever have thought that God himself should become incarnate, and live and die for the express purpose of supplying the necessities of his fallen creatures? Who could ever have imagined that Gods righteousness should be imputed to man? and that the Spirit of the living God should ever dwell in man, for the purpose of revealing the Saviour to him, and of imparting to him the divine image? A man not instructed in these things can know nothing about them. They are all matters of pure revelation, and directly contrary to those methods of salvation which uninstructed man would have adopted for himself ]
3.
He can never avail himself of those offers which God has made to him in the Gospel
[In the Holy Scriptures are contained exceeding great and precious promises, yea, promises confirmed by an oath, and ratified by an everlasting covenant. These promises relate to every want of fallen man, and make over to him a supply of every want by the simple exercise of faith on the part of man. How can the unenlightened man obtain an interest in these? How is it possible for him to lay hold of them, and rest upon them, and plead them before God, when he has never been instructed in relation to them? It is obvious, that without divine instruction he must for ever lie under the guilt and power of his sins, and endure the punishment due to his unrepented and unpardoned transgressions.]
What then must be,
II.
The light in which he must be viewed, who refuses instruction?
We use by no means too strong an expression, if we say, He despises his own soul. For,
1.
He grievously underrates its value
[Who can estimate the value of an immortal soul, a soul capable of knowing, honouring, and enjoying, the Most High God: and actually assured of that honour, if only it obtain the knowledge of Christ, and repose all its confidence in him? But, to judge of its value aright, we must take into account the love that God has borne towards it, and the price which our adorable Lord and Saviour has paid for its redemption. Contemplate its nature and its capacity, its estimation by God, and its eternal destinies: and then say. Whether the man who refuses the instruction whereby he is to be made happy, does not altogether betray an ignorance of its true value? ]
2.
He shamefully disregards its interests
[Without an attention to the concerns of the soul, it is in vain to hope that it can ever be happy in the eternal world. The man that refuses divine instruction, does in reality inflict upon his soul the heaviest judgment that it can sustain in this life: he says, in fact, Let me alone, that I may go on to increase my guilt, and treasure up for myself wrath against the day of wrath. What would be thought of a man who should so trifle with his temporal interests? Would there be any term of reproach too harsh or too contemptuous whereby to designate so foolish a character? What, then, must we say of a man who so neglects the interests of his soul? ]
3.
He casts it away for a thing of nought
[Give to sensual gratifications all the importance you will, they are only as the small dust upon the balance when weighed against the soul. Yet for these does the man who refuses instruction sell his soul. Truly, if Esau despised his birthright, when he sold it for a mess of pottage [Note: Gen 25:34.], much more do they pour contempt upon their own souls, who, for any consideration whatever, abandon all reasonable hopes of heaven, and subject themselves to the infliction of everlasting misery in hell ]
Address
1.
Avail yourselves now of the opportunities that are afforded you
[There has been declared unto you from time to time, so far as I have been enabled to declare it, the whole counsel of God. Think what improvement you have made of these instructions and what will be your reflections in the eternal world, if you reject them [Note: Pro 5:12-13.] Indeed, whilst disregarding the instructions given you, you greatly wrong your own souls, and act as persons that are in love with death [Note: Pro 8:36.]. O that ye may be wise ere it be too late! For, if they escaped not, who refused Moses who spake on earth, much more shall not ye escape, if ye turn away from him, even the Lord Jesus, who now speaketh to you from heaven [Note: Heb 12:25.].]
2.
Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves [Note: Jam 1:22.]
[Instruction, if it abide in the understanding only, will be of no profit. To be really useful, it must descend into your hearts, and operate in your lives. Our blessed Lords warning upon this subject deserves your deepest attention. I would have you not only wise, but wise unto salvation. I would not that you should erect a house upon the sand; and that, after all your labour, it should fall upon your heads, and crush you; but rather, that you should build your house upon a rock, and find it able to shelter you from all the storms and tempests that ever can assault it [Note: Mat 7:24-27.]. This will shew that you have real love to your soul [Note: Pro 19:8.]; and richly shall you be recompensed at the resurrection of the just [Note: Pro 8:33-35.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Pro 15:32 He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.
Ver. 32. He that refuseth instruction, despiseth his own soul. ] Is a sinner against his own soul, as Korah and his complices were, and sets as light by it as if it were not worth looking after. Oh! is it nothing to lose an immortal soul, to purchase an ever-living death? Wilt thou destroy that for which Christ died? 1Co 8:11 What shall a man give in exchange for his soul? There is no great matter in the earth but man, nothing great in man but his soul, said Faverinus. “Whose image and superscription is it” but God’s? “Give,” therefore, “unto God the things that are God’s,” by delivering it up to his discipline.
But he that heareth reproof, getteth understanding.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
instruction = correction, or discipline. See note on Pro 1:7.
soul. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13. Illustrations: Dathan (Num 16:12-14, Num 16:31-33); Zedekiah (2Ch 36:12; Jer 39:1-7); Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 4:27-33); Belshazzar (Dan 5:22-30); Jews (Mat 23:34-38).
getteth understanding = possesseth a heart. “Heart” put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Subject), App-6, for “sense”. Illustrations: Job’s friends (Job 42:7-9); the woman (Joh 4:17, &c.); two disciples (Luk 24:25-32); Paul (Act 9:6-22).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 15:32
Pro 15:32
“He that refuseth correction despiseth his own soul; But he that hearkeneth to reproof getteth understanding.”
“We are born like a wild ass’s colt in dire need of instruction; but some are such enemies of themselves that they will no consent to be taught wisdom. A society of the undisciplined rapidly degenerates into a state of disintegration.
Pro 15:32. This verse treats both responses to reproof. One refusing correction may appear to be despising the one reproving him, but in reality he is despising his own best interests; he is hurting himself. The inclusion of so many sayings on correction indicates the amount of this that will come to us in life. Their purpose is to get us to accept it for our own betterment.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
refuseth: Pro 1:24-33, Pro 5:11, Pro 5:12, Pro 8:33-36, Psa 50:17, Heb 12:15
instruction: or, correction, Pro 29:1, Isa 1:5, Jer 5:3, Eze 24:13, Eze 24:14
heareth: or, obeyeth, Pro 5:13, Deu 21:18, Deu 21:20, Mat 7:24-27, Jam 1:22, Rev 3:19
getteth understanding: Heb. possesseth an heart, Pro 15:14, Pro 15:21, *marg. Pro 17:16, Pro 18:15
Reciprocal: Job 34:10 – understanding Pro 13:18 – Poverty Pro 15:5 – but Pro 19:16 – he that despiseth Pro 25:12 – a wise Pro 29:24 – hateth Ecc 7:5 – better Jer 44:7 – against Hos 7:11 – without Heb 12:25 – refuse